Some British legislators, non-governmental organizations (NGO) and researchers have called on the government to arrange what they have described as a “legislative vacuum” that allows museums and other institutions to keep and show the remains of African ancestors taken during the colonial period.

For centuries, the remains of African ancestors, such as mummified bodies, skulls and other body parts, were brought to the UK and to other former colonial powers, often as “trophies” or as raw materials to be traded and displayed.

There are growing calls all over the world for such remains as well as looted art to be repatriated to their community or countries of origin.

Although some efforts have been made to confront the long -standing question, African remains are still held in various institutions across the country, such as museums and universities.

“We can’t allow dehumanization of our ancestors,” said Connie Bell, of the ‘Decolonising the Archive’ project, at an event on Wednesday organized by a parliamentary group across party on compensation, led by Labor-MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy.

In November 2024, Ribeiro-ADY brought the question to parliament and said the colonial period was noted for the sale of auction houses, on e-commerce platforms and social media.

A month before Ribeiro-Addy’s remarks, an auction house in Tetsworth, Oxfordshire, drew a sale of such remains, including skulls from West Africa’s Ekoi people, following criticism from native communities and advocates.

UK’s Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said it was terrible to hear Ribeiro-ADDY’s account and agreed to discuss the question further. A meeting with the Minister of Culture will take place soon, Ribeiro-ADDY said Wednesday.

The cross group will present to the government’s 14-political recommendations, including making all sales of residues illegally “on the basis of not being commercial objects but humans”.

The policy brief, produced by the African foundation of development (advice), said the government should close loopholes in the Human Tissues Act 2004, which covers removal, storage, use and disposal of human tissue.

However, the law does not cover activities related to remains of people who died over a century ago, which excludes most ancestors’ remains of museums and other institutions.

Advice to say the law should be changed to publish human, residue an offense, if done without consent. It also said that a national refund policy should be adopted to be adopted that an body should be established to deal with the claims of repatriation and collections of human remains must be mapped.